Social media can be a huge source of traffic, but making it to the front page of a major site like Digg is difficult, and the traffic is not usually as targeted as many other forms of traffic. For these reasons niche social media sites are a great solution. While traffic volume may not be as high, it will be much more targeted and it’s more realistic that your submissions will be noticed.
If you are a web designer, there are a number of niche sites that you should be aware of. Here are five with a brief description of each.
1. DZone
DZone is a community of web developers and software developers, and it probably provides the most technical content of any of the sites listed here. As the largest community listed, DZone also has the potential to send more traffic than any of the others.
How it works:
- You create an account.
- Users can submit a link to an article that is development-related.
- Members can vote up or down for the articles.
- Anyone can subscribe to the RSS feed.
- Currently, there are over 9,000 subscribers to the feed of popular links.
- Currently, there are over 1,000 subscribers to the feed of new links.
A submitted link doesn’t need to get that many votes in order to be made popular, but votes don’t come easily. The content is highly targeted, and anything non-developer related will be shot down and probably deleted. If one of your links makes it to the front page (and gets sent out to the 9,000+ subscribers) you can easily receive 500 or more visitors in a day. The DZone community seems to include a large number of del.icio.us users as I have had several posts rack up bookmarks and make it to the front page of del.icio.us immediately following traffic from DZone.
2. CSS Globe
CSS Globe is not a typical social media site where members vote on submissions. It specializes in web standards and design-related content.
How it works:
- Members create an account (have to be approved).
- Members can submit links with brief descriptions.
- The links go out to CSS Globes RSS subscribers.
So essentially CSS Globe is more of a user-controlled blog than a social media website. But it sends links with descriptions rather than full blog posts. Links can receive as much as 200 or more visitors in a day from CSS Globe. Actually, this week I’ve had over 400 visitors in a day from CSS Globe. If you have quality design-related content and a good headline, CSS Globe is easy traffic.
3. Pixel Groovy
Pixel Groovy is a user-controlled tutorial directory. Topics include CSS, PHP, JavaScript, Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, and more.
How it works:
- Members create an account.
- Members submit links to tutorials/articles.
- Submissions are voted up and down by users.
Pixel Groovy’s RSS feed currently has over 1200 subscribers. I’m not sure how much traffic it sends to top stories because I have not used it very much.
4. Design Float
Design Float is a Digg-Style social media site that focuses on design related content, as opposed to Digg’s general approach.
How it works:
- Members create accounts.
- Members can submit links and vote (actually “float”) on other submissions.
- Much like Digg, users can add friends.
- Top stories are posted on the front page.
I’ve submitted to articles to Design Float and been pleasantly surprised with the results (100 - 200 visitors to each). It appears to be an up-and-coming community for designers.
5. DevelopersNiche
Like Design Float, DevelopersNiche is a Digg-style site, with a niche focus. It works exactly the same as Design Float, so I won’t re-write that information. DevelopersNiche is the smallest community of the sites listed here and will send the least amount of traffic. However, that means it is easier to get your submissions to the front page and get a little bit of exposure.
If you know of any other social media sites in this niche please leave a link in the comments.
EDIT: You can add Design Bump and Design Related to this list.
October 11th, 2007
Great list!
Thanks
October 11th, 2007
Lee,
Thanks for visiting. I’m glad you liked the list.
October 12th, 2007
It’s a pity I’m not a designer.
Otherwise I’d be putting this list to use right now. If only I had the time to study and learn all this web design thing…
October 12th, 2007
Steven, that reminds me, I’d done some looking around to find out if there were any SNWs in my “niche” - I didn’t have a lot of luck though, would you know any places to look at offhand?
October 12th, 2007
Thank you! This is very helpful.
October 12th, 2007
Pretty useful site to discover new pages/sites!
October 12th, 2007
Thanks for this list. As marketing director for a web company I am always on the lookout for more sites like these. I had not heard of all of these so thanks for bringing them out.
October 12th, 2007
Karthik,
I’ve found a few from time to time by visiting forums. Find some forums in your niche, do a search of past posts and leave a new one if you don’t find anything. Talking to other people in the niche is a good way since they are most likely to know. You could email other bloggers maybe.
Tay, Felix, and Tim,
I’m glad this list will be helpful to you all.
October 12th, 2007
Pretty good list there. I’m definitely forwarding your site to my friend, he could really use this info. Awesome.
October 13th, 2007
Nice list.
I found myself visited DZone much more than Digg after I fist met it. It makes more sense to me, as a CS student, than Digg.
People don’t like to comment on it, though. Maybe because developers prefer coding and reading to speaking
October 13th, 2007
[...] 5 Niche Social Media Sites For Web Designers: “Social media can be a huge source of traffic, but making it to the front page of a major site like Digg is difficult, and the traffic is not usually as targeted as many other forms of traffic. …” [...]
October 13th, 2007
5 Niche Social Media Sites for Web Designers…
[...]5 sites that specialize in web design related news. These are actual niche sites, not categories of larger sites like Digg and Reddit. Dzone is included.[...]…
October 13th, 2007
Jaux,
Thanks for visiting and reading. Yes, I like the targeted traffic from Dzone. You’re right, it doesn’t seem to generate comments though.
October 14th, 2007
[...] Vandelay Design gives 5 Niche Social Media Sites for Web Designers. [...]
October 14th, 2007
I like the photoshop tutorials from pixelgroovy. Each mini tutorial is like a new little nugget to have under my belt.
October 14th, 2007
DZone is great for bringing in software development traffic. On my .NET related blog I’ve had days where I’ve gotten over 1000 views from DZone. General or controversial topics bring the most traffic while nuts-and-bolts articles will provide less traffic although it will be more sticky.
DotNetKicks is a great social media site for .NET developers. While it doesn’t get the traffic of DZone it’s audience is highly targeted on development with Microsoft products.
October 14th, 2007
Frank,
Thanks for mentioning DotNetKicks. I’m compiling a list of social networks, so I’ll be sure to add that one.
October 14th, 2007
Great post ~
I just got a link on a health social media site called http://v.mercola.com/blogs/ and it generated about 1000 visits to my site and currently has 1746 hits to post on Mercola. There’s no way to add your post to the site, but emailing Dr. Mercola - the site owner with a related post may result in a placement!
October 14th, 2007
Hi Christine,
Thanks for clicking through on my comment at your blog. I’m glad to hear that a niche site has brought some targeted traffic to you. I’ll have to add that site to a list I’m compiling.
October 15th, 2007
Hey. Thanks for that. CSS Globe looks cool.
October 15th, 2007
Although it is watered down with amateur art and anime. I think Deviantart.com is still a great source for feedback on projects and also finding inspiration…
October 15th, 2007
Acopic,
I really like CSS Globe, try it out sometime.
Rick,
That’s true. I haven’t really used it, by I’ve heard others say the same thing. Thanks for the feedback.
October 16th, 2007
[...] Full Article addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xaby.com%2Fwebtalk%2F2007%2F10%2F16%2F5-niche-social-media-sites-for-web-designers%2F’; addthis_title = ‘5+Niche+Social+Media+Sites+for+Web+Designers’; addthis_pub = ”; Sphere: Related Content [...]
October 16th, 2007
Out of these 5 I am use Dzone for a while, and it so have nice amount of traffic to send your way. I will also try your other recommendations, Thanks!
October 17th, 2007
[...] 5 sites that specialize in web design related news. These are actual niche sites, not categories of larger sites like Digg and Reddit. Worth a look! :o) Click here to visit >> [...]
October 17th, 2007
Awesome list. I’m off to look at all the sites.
October 24th, 2007
[...] social media websites. I immediately submitted the page to DZone, CSS Globe, and Design Float, 3 niche sites that focus on web design articles. I also submitted the site to Digg and StumbleUpon. Typically I [...]
October 26th, 2007
[...] get social media traffic. For example, my posts that are web design related sometimes do well with niche social media sites, while posts that are related to blogging don’t get submitted to these sites since they aren’t [...]
October 30th, 2007
[...] get social media traffic. For example, my posts that are web design related sometimes do well with niche social media sites, while posts that are related to blogging don’t get submitted to these sites since they aren’t [...]
November 5th, 2007
Great Links, thanks for those. I have never heard of DevelopersNiche website, it looks like it will be a very interesting one. Thanks again!
November 5th, 2007
[...] above send huge amounts of traffic, there’s also a lot of competition for that traffic. Niche social media sites are perfect for reaching a highly-targeted audience. Some niche sites still send very significant [...]
November 13th, 2007
[...] get social media traffic. For example, my posts that are web design related sometimes do well with niche social media sites, while posts that are related to blogging don’t get submitted to these sites since they [...]
November 20th, 2007
Thanks for the links, I was using DZone before but I like the other sites too, especially Pixel Groovy.
November 20th, 2007
Yeah, DZone is probably the most well know on the list. Pixel Groovy is nice because there’s also some graphic design content as well.
December 18th, 2007
Great list. I just launched a Digg-like site for designers called Design Sites Up. My favorite on this list above is Design Float, I’m on there every day.
Thanks.
Rachel
December 29th, 2007
Don’t forget about design:related™
January 2nd, 2008
perfect to notify !
January 2nd, 2008
[...] Design Float. Those of us in the web design industry are fortunate that there are several useful design-related social media sites. If you’re looking for a place to promote your own content and find other items of interest, [...]
January 3rd, 2008
styleignite.com is also worth a look
March 3rd, 2008
Some Top tools will be sure to check out. Many Thanks
March 9th, 2008
designrelated looks cool
March 16th, 2008
thanks for the article, i use dzone as well and i love it.
March 19th, 2008
[...] social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook, and there are industry-specific resources like forums, niche social media sites for designers and community [...]
March 20th, 2008
[...] Niche Social Media Sites for Web Designers [...]
March 30th, 2008
[...] submit a good portion of my posts on my primary blog to niche social media sites, but I do make a conscious effort to be sure that it is appropriate for the audience before [...]
April 2nd, 2008
[...] that is specific to the subject of web design, you really have two basic choices. There are several niche social media sites that focus on content relevant to web designers and developers, and there are also general sites that offer web design as a [...]
April 8th, 2008
[...] Source : 5 Niche Social media sites for Web Designers [...]
June 8th, 2008
[...] blog has really benefited from niche sites for designers, like Design Float, so I hope Design Bump takes off as well. It will be interesting to see how both [...]
June 16th, 2008
Very helpful. Thx.
July 22nd, 2008
[...] LinkedIn, Virb, Twitter, Carbonmade, deviantART , and more. Commenting on design-related blogs or niche social media sites can also be a great way to interact and get to know [...]
July 24th, 2008
Very nice article, all of them are bookmarked on del.icio.us
July 24th, 2008
good article , helpful!
my best social site current now its Design Float.
July 24th, 2008
Hi Steven,
I’ve recently gotten into Design Float and DZone (and I rediscovered your blog through there too).
I’ll have to try the other three. Cheers.
July 24th, 2008
Actually, some of these are a little stale.
The latest published item on Developer’s Niche is 129 days old and the latest upcoming is 14 days old.
With Pixel Groove, the last published items are 252 days old. The Groove (upcoming) section has something from within the last hour, but the feed to the Groove section throws a FeedBurner error. There’s also a lot of spam (the last entry is about locating mortgage rates in Oakland, Ohio!).
Probably not worth worrying about these two.
August 4th, 2008
[...] get social media traffic. For example, my posts that are web design related sometimes do well with niche social media sites, while posts that are related to blogging don’t get submitted to these sites since they aren’t [...]
August 27th, 2008
[...] using many of the sites on Thomas’s lists, but not all of them. I’m also not including niche social media sites like Design Float and Design Bump. While I do like social media sites, the focus of this post is on [...]
August 29th, 2008
thanks for the article, i use dzone as well and i love it.
September 8th, 2008
I had never heard of these. I am going to check them out
January 31st, 2009
Very nice article, all of them are bookmarked on del.icio.us
March 2nd, 2009
[...] LinkedIn, Virb, Twitter, Carbonmade, deviantART , and more. Commenting on design-related blogs or niche social media sites can also be a great way to interact and get to know [...]